


A Sukka and Maiko Oneshot - that somehow turned into a collection of Avatar one shots ;)

by Aync1lgw



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Badass Mai (Avatar), Friendship, Gen, Happy, Minor Aang/Katara, Minor Mai/Zuko, Minor Sokka/Suki, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Suki & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Sukka, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, cactus juice, maiko, suki and mai friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26165998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aync1lgw/pseuds/Aync1lgw
Summary: Suki glared at him, twirling her fans around in a smooth motion, turning her body in midair and landing on the ground on her feet, the sharp flick of her fans resounding throughout the palace grounds. Zuko gulped nervously, a tiny trickle of sweat seeping down his forehead; cursing his luck for forgetting that she was the leader of the Kyoshi warriors. Not a sound was to be heard around the courtyard but if Zuko tried really hard, he could hear Sokka whimper in panic behind him."She is going to kill us." Sokka whined, trying to hide behind Zuko, using him as a shield between Suki and himself."Oh, you think?" Zuko snarled, getting into a fighting stance, ignoring the panic running down his spine.~or~Sokka and cactus juice can never be a good combo. And poor Zuko has to face the consequences.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 103





	1. Cactus juice makes you a manly man!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I decided to move over some of my old Avatar fan fictions that I wrote a long time back. I didn't modify much, I am posting it just the way I wrote it so long back; just a few spell checks and minor sentence reconstructions here and there. 
> 
> Please note: 
> 
> \- the parts in italics are what happened in the past.  
> \- and yes, Sokka was high on cactus juice. ;)
> 
> \--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suki glared at him, twirling her fans around in a smooth motion, turning her body in midair and landing on the ground on her feet, the sharp flick of her fans resounding throughout the palace grounds. Zuko gulped nervously, a tiny trickle of sweat seeping down his forehead; cursing his luck for forgetting that she was the leader of the Kyoshi warriors. Not a sound was to be heard around the courtyard but if Zuko tried really hard, he could hear Sokka whimper in panic behind him.

"She is going to kill us." Sokka whined, trying to hide behind Zuko, using him as a shield between Suki and himself.

"Oh, you think?" Zuko snarled, getting into a fighting stance, ignoring the panic running down his spine.

He tried to glare back at her, summoning up all the courage he could muster but he found himself wondering whether his ancestors would forgive him if he tried to make a run for it. She looked murderous standing there, the evening sun reflecting off the metal fans in her hands, her stance perfect and still.

"Oh, what are we going to do?" Sokka whimpered, his panic seeping into Zuko.

"You could have tried keeping your big mouth shut." Zuko replied, trying to calm the frantic beating of his heart.

_"Hey there Suki! Want to go for a ride on Appa? I heard the fire nation looks beautiful from up there."_

_"Thanks, Sokka but I have to finish off this game of Pai Sho first."_

_"Oh! You ladies are playing Pai Sho huh?"_

_"Yes. Do you want to join in the next game?"_

_"Naahh... Thanks Mai but I would rather do manly things than sit around with a bunch of girls and play a pansy board game."_

Zuko knew he should have stopped him then and there itself, but he never thought that Sokka was capable of putting one foot after the other in his big mouth in such rapid succession. He wondered how Sokka could have missed the tiny flash of anger that flickered on Mai's face for just a second before she turned back to look at Suki.

_"Pansy board game huh?"_

_"Oh, not for you Suki. You are a girl after all but for a warrior like me, it's a waste of time when we could be out there hunting or refining our fighting skills so that we can protect you ladies from harm."_

_"Protect us? "_

_"Of course, Mai. That's what we are here for, aren't we Zuko?"_

Zuko closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. When he had joined the Avatar, this was certainly not what he had signed up for. He clenched his fists tightly, willing them not to shake so much, hoping against hope that he was unable to move not because of the fear at the look on Suki's face but because he didn't want to go near her. Wait, how is that any better, wondered miserably.

_"Really?"_

_"Of course! With a man like Zuko around, you don't have to worry one bit about lifting your dainty fingers to protect yourself."_

_"Suki?"_

_"Yes, Mai."_

_"I think Sokka is right."_

_"You do?"_

_"Of course. Pai Sho is a pansy board game. We should be practicing refining our fighting skills, not sit around and waste time."_

_"Oh, but it's all right for you ladies. You can relax and take time off to have your little chit chats. It's for us guys to keep fit."_

Zuko opened his eyes, exhaling deeply.

"Stand back Zuko." Suki snarled, the wind whipping her voice around the whole courtyard. "This is between me and him."

"Never!" Sokka shouted back, "Zuko is not going to abandon his friend in need."

"Can you please shut up?" Zuko hissed, trying not to shudder at the tone of Suki's voice.

"But you are not going to abandon me, are you?" Sokka whispered in panic.

Zuko sighed.

_"Mai?"_

_"Yes Suki?"_

_"Are you thinking what I am thinking?"_

_"Maybe."_

Zuko wondered why it always had to be him who ended up in such situations. He tried to regain his focus, thinking hard to figure out a way to keep Sokka away from Suki's grasp; he didn't want to be the one to explain to Katara why he didn't do anything to prevent her brother from being murdered by his own girlfriend.

"Can you tell your girlfriend to stop glaring at me?" Sokka whispered, nudging Zuko painfully at his ribs.

"You should be thankful," Zuko replied gritting his teeth, "It gets worse once she stops glaring and starts throwing her knives around."

Sokka gulped.

_“What are you thinking?"_

_"Oh, I just wanted to show you a few tricks that Mai had been teaching me."_

_"Great! So, you finally learnt how to make a decent cup of tea?"_

_"Tea?"_

_"Of course, Mai. Suki is terrible in brewing tea, but I heard fire nation people are really good at it. So, I am guessing that's what you taught her, right?"_

_"Wrong!"_

_Sokka didn't even know when they had moved. One second, they were sitting there looking at him, the next second he was on the ground, tackled aside by Zuko, a sharp hot flash of air having missed his ears by just inches. He looked over Zuko's shoulders to see one of Mai's knife stuck on the wall, its blade still quivering while a vase lay shattered on the floor next to it, Suki's fan having smashed it to pieces._

And suddenly Suki charged, her fans held back in her hands as she ran towards Sokka, her eyes glaring daggers. Sokka yelped in fear, crouching down behind Zuko, covering his head with his hands, his eyes tightly shut, praying to all the gods he knew. A sharp clang and a gust of air, the smell of metal filling up his nostrils. He opened his eyes slowly, peering up to look at Suki, her metal fan inches away from his head, blocked down by one of Zuko's swords.

Before he could take in a breath of relief, Suki suddenly flipped around, sailing through the air and landing on the other side, her hands reaching forward to grab Sokka by his shirt. Zuko moved just as fast, twisting his sword to fling away Suki's hand that held her fan and whirling around to snatch Sokka by his robes, pulling him out of Suki’s reach just in time.

Sokka's blood was pounding in his head, fear rendering him immobile. Not for the first time, he found himself wondering why he had been hitting on the cactus juice again. He doesn’t learn does he, he’s an idiot. He must be, he thought miserably, otherwise he wouldn't have said all those things. He shivered in terror as he watched Suki trying her best to reach him and Zuko blocking her every attempt; fear and terror have completely sobered him now at least. Or has it?

A sudden whoosh of air by his side and he looked up just in time to see one of Mai's knife flying through the air, piercing through the sleeves of Zuko's robes and pulling his hand back, pinning his sleeve to the wall behind him as the knife thudded with a resounding sound into the wall.

Oh no, Sokka gulped. Zuko looked at Mai as she calmly stepped out from behind the pillar, walking over to Suki.

"He's all yours." She said, nodding towards Sokka. "I will make sure Zuko doesn't interfere."

He was doomed, Zuko shook his head sadly, pitying the blind look of panic spreading across Sokka's face as Suki broke into a smile, nodding her thanks to Mai and then turned to look at Sokka, her eyes hardening to slits.

Mai walked over towards Zuko, calmly folding her arms across her chest.

"Are you crazy?" Zuko asked frantically, trying to free his sleeve from under the knife. "She is going to kill him."

"Don't worry." Mai replied, turning her back towards him, "He will survive."

Zuko watched in horror as Sokka finally dropped all pretenses and scrambled up his feet, running down the opposite corner, screaming at the top of his lungs with Suki giving chase.

"Come back here you coward!" Suki's voice echoed throughout the courtyard, as she flung the fan at him, missing him by inches before he disappeared around the corner.

"So.." Mai's voice brought his attention back to her. She glared at him; her voice dangerously low as she leaned in towards him. Zuko gulped, his heart thundering in his chest. Now he has done it, he thought miserably. Damn Sokka and his big mouth. For a few seconds she kept glaring at him, her face inches away from his own and just as he was preparing himself to face her wrath, she threw him completely off guard by suddenly breaking into a beautiful smile.

"Want to play Pai Sho?"

* * *


	2. A gift in hand is worth.. nothing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am.. slightly overwhelmed by the positive response to this old one shot :O 
> 
> Like I didn't expect it to get any kudos at all :O
> 
> I am highly encouraged by that. So I pulled up another old one shot that I had written and decided to add it to this collection. This time, there is no cactus juice involved :)
> 
> Please let me know what you think. I might make this a collection of Avatar one shots instead.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------

Zuko cleared his throat nervously, his hand patting the tiny box in his pocket as he hid himself behind the huge pillar of the palace courtyard. This is stupid, he thought miserably, wondering not for the first time why he agreed to listen to Sokka.

" Are you sure about this? " He whispered to the excited water tribe warrior who was crouching right behind him, trying to get a better look past Zuko's shoulders.

"Of course, I am sure!" Sokka replied emphatically, rolling his eyes in genuine surprise that the young Fire Lord would ever doubt his ingenuity.

"But the last time I tried this; it didn't quite work out that well." Zuko admitted, running his hand through his hair.

"That was because you didn't have me to help you out last time. " Sokka replied, putting on what he thought was his best smirk.

Zuko sighed. He was doomed.

"Here she comes!" Sokka whispered excitedly, giving Zuko a painful jab on his ribs. Almost instinctively, Zuko grabbed Sokka's hand and in one swift motion, twisted it painfully behind his back, his other hand coming up to cover Sokka's mouth.

"Quiet…” he hissed in his ears as Mai's footsteps echoed up the courtyard.

Sokka nodded his head and slowly Zuko let go of him.

"Ok..." Sokka whispered, wincing as he gingerly touched his bruised hand, " Let Operation Cupid get on the way!"

Before Zuko could react, he felt Sokka give him an almighty push on his back and he literally found himself flying out from behind the pillar, stumbling and skidding to regain his balance. Mai's footsteps were getting closer and closer and just when he thought he was going to slam straight into her as she came up the corner, he managed to skid to a halt right in front of her face. For a few seconds, he stared at her, blinking his eyes in surprise. Since when did Mai wear face paint? And then the realization hit him.

"Suki!!" He gasped in shock.

"Err... Hi Zuko." Suki replied nervously, her eyes narrowing down as she scrutinized the flabbergasted Fire Lord in front of her. "Is something wrong?"

Oh, something is wrong all right, Zuko swore to himself. He glanced back towards the pillar, only to find an open mouthed Sokka staring at them with wide terrified eyes, Great! Now what was he supposed to do?

"Zuko..?" Suki's voice made him snap his head back towards her, a fact he regretted almost instantly as a suspicious look came over her face.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked curiously, trying to take a look behind Zuko's shoulder.

Maybe you can get a smarter boyfriend, he thought miserably.

"Oh... nothing! Nothing at all!" Zuko replied in what he hoped was his normal tone of voice, shuffling to the right to try to block from her view the petrified Sokka standing behind them.

"OOkkaayy.." Suki replied hesitantly, "If you say so. I will see you later then."

She took a step to his left and without even thinking, Zuko grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. He can't risk her spotting the open mouthed Sokka, it might ruin everything, and he couldn't risk that. Not when that involved a furious Mai. He gulped nervously at the thought.

"Actually... there is something." he began, racking his brains to come up with some idea. Curse you Sokka! Not knowing what else to do, he pulled out the tiny box from his pocket and held it out to her. He could hear Sokka give an indignant gasp from behind, almost too audible. Suki tried to look behind him again, but he resolutely held the box out in front of her eyes, giving her a dazzling smile. He could almost feel Sokka's murderous gaze burning up the back of his neck.

"What is it?" Suki asked, tentatively taking the delicately carved wooden box from Zuko's hands, marveling at the intricate carvings on top.

"It's from Sokka."

"What?" Sokka and Suki both blurted out the question at the same time.

Suki whipped up her head, her eyes narrowing at the sound of Sokka's voice and she resolutely pushed Zuko aside with one hand as she tried to look behind him. Fortunately for Zuko, Sokka seemed to have recovered for he ducked behind the pillar just in time to escape from Suki's gaze. Suki looked around suspiciously but couldn't find any sign of Sokka and finally thinking that she might have imagined hearing his voice, she turned back to look at the box.

Zuko gave a silent prayer of thanks.

"What's in it?" she asked.

"See for yourself." Zuko replied with a smile, his heart dropping down to his toes as he realized that he just gave away the gift that he selected with so much care for Mai. Well, you can’t win both sides of a battle, he reasoned as Suki gently opened the box. Even though Zuko had seen it so many times before, still the sight of the crystallized rose inside the box managed to take his breath away.

Suki kept staring at the box, her whole body still, her eyes wide in shock. With shaking hands, she took the tiny rose out from the box, the sunlight reflecting off the transparent crystal encrusting the real rose within, giving out a radiant glow.

"He remembered..." she whispered in wonder.

"What?" Zuko blurted out, his surprise getting the better of him.

"Today was the day we first met... in Kyoshi Island." Suki replied happily, putting the crystallized rose in the palm of her hand and examining it in the sunlight. " I thought he had forgotten."

To say that Zuko was shocked would be an understatement. He could literally feel Sokka heave a sigh of relief from behind the pillar.

"Why didn't he give it to me himself?" Suki asked.

"He wanted to surprise you." Zuko said automatically. Suki raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, if he gave it to you personally, you would have been able to guess that he was giving you a gift. With me handing it over, it came as a surprise." he improvised hastily, hoping she would buy his story.

"That is the best story you have ever come up with Zuko!" Sokka whispered in relief from behind the pillar.

"What story?" Mai asked.

Sokka nearly yelped in shock, jumping almost a foot in the air.

"Gosh Mai!" He panted, his hand over his racing heart. "Don't sneak up on people like that!"

"I don't sneak up on people." Mai replied solemnly. " You are just not aware enough of your surroundings."

Sokka took in deep breaths, trying to calm down the frantic beatings of his terrified heart.

"I just asked him to hand over a gift from me to Suki." Sokka began, getting up on his feet.

Mai raised her eyebrow but didn't make any comment, instead walking up towards the pillar and peering out to see Zuko and Suki talking out in the courtyard.

"I hate gifts." Mai replied, straightening up and walking back the way she came.

"Why?" Sokka asked before he could stop himself.

"No reason in particular." she replied, before she turned around the corner and disappeared from his sight.

Sokka stood still for a moment, wondering what that was all about as he turned back to look at Suki, her happy face shining in the glow of the crystal in her hand. Maybe Zuko was right; Mai is not like the other girls, she is different, she is unique. Maybe it was for the best that Zuko didn't end up giving her the gift, it might have had the opposite effect to what he had imagined.

He sighed. Maybe Zuko was right after all. Girls are crazy.

"But I am sure she loves it." Mai whispered in his ear.

This time Sokka couldn't stop himself from yelling in shock.


	3. Oh the tragic life of Sokka from the Water Tribe..!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have been amazing..! Thank you for all the kudos. I dug up another one shot that I am posting as chapter 3. I will update the story title as well and update the tags accordingly.
> 
> Please note:
> 
> \- this is a short one shot, written from Sokka's POV and is kind of a Kataang.  
> \- so yes, it's all exaggerated, it's like a caricature of what's really happening. So painted from Sokka's lenses ;)  
> \- and no, Toph cannot read thoughts. She could hear Sokka since he was mumbling to himself now and then as well. But since it's written from Sokka's POV, he didn't realize he was muttering out some stuff aloud.
> 
> *comments and feedback are golden :)  
> \-------------------------------------------

Will you look at that? There they go again. Stealing glances at each other while they think no one else is looking. I admit they do have a valid point there, I mean Toph can't exactly see and Zuko.. well I don't think he will notice anything even if it dances in front of his face wearing Bhumi's purple outfit. Unless he is looking for it of course. But that's not the point of course! Just because I am the sarcasm guy doesn't mean I can't notice anything serious happening around my vicinity and actually look at it in an un-sarcastic way. Hah! Un-sarcastic! I bet I just invented a new word right there.

Anyway, what I want to say is that give a guy some respect. I am the elder brother here after all, I don't have to see some guy flirt with my baby sister. Not that he is succeeding very well at it. He has himself to blame for it though. I tried giving him advice on how to be with girls when Katara dragged us along to meet Aunt Wu, but it seems like he has forgotten every word I said!

I mean, look at him! He is going all blushy face and puppy dog eyes on her for seal jerky's sake! What happened to maximum aloofness? No wonder Katara took such a long time to actually notice Aang trying to impress her!

There! Again! Oho. Seems like they both tried to look at each other at the same time. Haha. I never thought Aang could blush such a brilliant shade of red! Oh no! Katara is fumbling with the ladle, losing her grip and there she drops it into the pot! Arrgh! I hope she doesn't ruin the meat she is cooking, it took me hours of employing my exemplary hunting skills to catch those moose-deers. I better remind her.

"Hey! Katara! Be careful with the meat will you?"

Hmm, I have to admit though. In spite of being the elder brother, Katara sometimes scares me to death. Like the scowl she is wearing on her face right now, that is an expression that always precedes a Katara outburst and believe me, you don't want to be at the receiving end of a Katara outburst. I found it out the hard way when I was 7 years old and I accidentally broke her doll house. Thanks to me, everyone found out that day itself about what a great waterbender she will become one day. It didn't help me of course, I had to suffer three day of intense fever after Dad finally managed to find me trapped in the block of ice. Oh well, happy days.

"Hey Sokka! Tell your sister to stay away from Aang for a few minutes, will you?"

"Why Toph?"

Reminder. You don't want to be at the receiving end of a Toph outburst either. Man! I wonder how a girl half my size can make me feel like running away from her when she looks at me with that murderous expression. Was that a stupid question I asked? Toph's face is turning red, not a good sign, not a good sign at all.

"Because they are hurting my ears!"

Umm. I admit, she totally lost me there. Dare I ask her what she means, or should I pretend to understand and just nod my head? No, I am Sokka of the water tribe, I don't give up that easily. Hurting her ears. How can they hurt her ears? They are not shouting or anything. There you see, they are both sitting quietly, Katara stirring the pot and Aang cutting up the vegetables. Apart from the occasional blushing and fumblings of course. Hah! I bet Aang's heart must be racing so loud, he must be...

Ooh! Now I get it. Toph can sense vibrations so I guess she must be getting the vibrations of their hearts beating fast each time they try to glance at each other.

"You got it right Snoozles. Now separate them or I will make sure you never get to eat that meat she is cooking."

Wait! How did she know what I was thinking? Should I ask her?

Naah.. I think it's better I go and wrestle with a platypus bear than try to ask her how she could do it, especially when she just smacked that rock about a foot into the air as she walked off. Oh well, the perils of being the big brother. Maybe I can take Aang out for a walk, it will do him good, calm his nerves down and also help Katara to concentrate on the meat she is cooking.

I hate to be the wet blanket but sometimes these things have to be done, especially when threatened by the most powerful earth bender in the world.

Hold on a second. When did Aang come over to sit so near to my sister? He was sitting way over there, across the fire. How did he come to sit next to her? And what is holding my sister's hand? And… and.. she is blushing even more!

"Hey! What are you two doing?"

Did I just shout that out? Seems like it, considering the fact that both Aang and Katara are looking over at me. And he is still holding her hand! The nerve! Ok Sokka.. calm down. Remember this is the Avatar you are yelling at, the same Avatar who can turn you into a crisp within a matter of minutes. Or worse still, he can turn the meat into a crisp in a matter of seconds!

"What's wrong Sokka?" The chill running down my spine has got nothing to do with the tone of Katara's voice. Nothing I tell you. Think brain think! What am I going to say now? Why do I always get myself in such situations, why why?

"Hey Sokka! Want to see some new sword tricks?" If I was not so vain, if the proud blood of the water tribe warriors were not running in my veins, I swear I would have fallen on the ground, kissing Zuko's feet in gratitude for the timely intervention.

"Yes!!" Uh. I never realized how much someone's voice can echo in this temple. Why, I think I can hear my voice echo over the valley beyond. I guess I did shout a bit too enthusiastically considering the flabbergasted looks on Zuko and Aang's faces. Not Katara though. She is giving me the "I-know-what-you-were-upto" look.

"Sokka!!"

A few rocks actually fell down from the cliffs at the sound of Toph's bellow. Me being unable to move from terror is not something I would like to experience at this moment but my body just went numb with fear. Now I have done it! Toph is going to kill me! If the ground shuddering is any indication, I should get out of here as soon as I can before she comes charging after me. I completely forgot about her ears hurting, I guess my shouting out loud didn't help.

Under such situations, you can't help but panic and I implore you, please don't tell anyone how fast I ran towards Zuko to save my life.

"Let's go Zuko! Fast! Else you would be showing your sword tricks to a Sokka frozen in a block of ice, enclosed in an earth block, suspended high up on the tip of a tornado!”

Turning back to look while running at lightning speed is quite a feat I tell you. It gets even worse when you turn back and see your baby sister getting all lovey dovey over a guy right in front of you. Aang and Katara are sitting even closer to each other now, oblivious to my panic or to the earth rumblings.

And.. and.. Aang is holding both her hands now!! Oh well, there are some things you better not get yourself involved in and that includes the romance between the Avatar and my sister.

Sigh.. sometimes it just doesn't pay to get out of bed in the morning.

Wait! Is that burnt meat I smell?? Aaargh!!


	4. Maps can be read upside down...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last one shot left. It's a Kataang this time.
> 
> Thank you everyone for your kudos. It was a fun ride. I hope you enjoy this as well!
> 
> \--------------------------------------------------------------

Aang looked around his surroundings hopelessly. The cacophony of noise made by the merchants shouting out to get the customers' attentions to their wares was not enough to drown out Katara's angry mumbling as she stared at the map in her hand, glaring at it as if it was the map's fault that they got lost in the first place. Aang knew better than to question Katara when she was in one of those moods so he decided instead to focus on a bunch of tiny frogbats hanging around the cages of one store. He sighed, wondering how he got himself dragged into this mess, all thanks to Sokka. It was a perfectly happy morning with birds chirping around and Aang making wonderful progress in his firebending training with Zuko. He was in a pretty good mood, considering how much he had learnt in just a couple of days and was making his way back to the temple courtyard with Zuko when they both sudden stopped dead on their tracks.

Katara's voice was echoing all over the temple. "What?? What do you mean girls can't read maps?"

"Come on Katara. You know it's true. You can't read a map to save your life."

A feeling of dread crept up Aang's spine and by the look on his fire bending teacher's face, he knew Zuko was feeling the same: they would both rather jump off the temple cliff than to get involved in another one of the water tribe siblings quarrels. With a quick nod of their head, Aang and Zuko were just silently creeping back, Aang hoping against hope that neither Sokka nor Katara catches them when suddenly Katara's voice rang out again.

"Aang!!"

Aang froze, his foot still hovering in midair, a feeling of blind panic making his heart hammer in his chest. Zuko gave him a sympathetic and apologetic look before he ducked around the corner and disappeared from view. Great! Aang thought. Just when he was beginning to trust the fire bender. He turned around gingerly, a big grin on his face, trying to mask the feeling of doom at the pit of his stomach.

"Hey Katara. What's up?"

"Sokka's chauvinistic attitude, that's what's up." She replied angrily, looking at Aang as if daring him to say otherwise. Aang gulped. This is not good.

"I am just being truthful." Sokka spoke up, mistaking Aang's pleading look to be a questioning one.

"Girls just don't know how to read maps."

"Aang! You know it's not true. Tell him that." Katara demanded, rounding up on Aang, her eyes blazing with anger. It was during moments like this that Aang longed he could rather take Azula out on a date than face Katara.

"Well…" he cleared his throat, racking his brains trying to figure out anything sensible to say. Katara was looking at him impatiently, her arms folded and her right foot tapping the floor. Aang panicked. What was he supposed to say? The truth and live to regret it or lie and have his conscience trouble him for the rest of life?

He decided on the diplomatic approach.

"Well Sokka, girls can read maps. Why Toph doesn't even need a map to figure out where we are going. Hee hee.." He finished lamely, praying Sokka would take the hint and drop the topic.

"Keep me out of this twinkle toes" Toph spoke up, sounding thoroughly entertained to witness Aang's predicament.

"All right. Maybe girls can read maps. But Katara can't." Sokka continued, a goofy grin plastered on his face, making Aang wonder how he could smile like that when Katara looked like she would love to waterbend him to the next galaxy.

"I can!!" Katara screeched, making a few birds fly out from the surrounding trees.

"Prove it then." Sokka replied.

Oh no! Aang could feel his heart drop down to his toes. This was what he had been dreading ever since he heard Katara shouting. "You don't have to prove anything Katara." Aang spoke up hurriedly, trying to repair the damage before it was too late. "Sokka just likes to keep irritating you. Don't let him get to you this time." He glared at Sokka warningly but the water tribe warrior seemed to be oblivious to Aang's panic.

"No Aang. It's about time I prove Sokka wrong." Katara marched upto Sokka, Aang following her, dragging his feet along as if he were walking to the gallows. Where is Ozai when you need him, Aang wondered miserably.

It was therefore decided that Katara would have to find her way back to the temple from the nearest merchant port, just a few miles south of the air temple with the help of Sokka’s fire nation map and she was supposed to do so before sunset. Just to make sure she was not cheating and asking for directions, Sokka came up with the brilliant plan of sending Aang and Zuko along with her. They however couldn't find the fire bender anywhere and Aang made a mental note to ask Zuko about his hiding place in case he needed to escape from another sibling war sometime soon.

And so there they were, going round and round in circles ever since Aang could remember, always ending up in front of the same frogbat store. Aang wondered whether he could bring up the word 'lost' but one look at Katara's face and he dropped the idea. But this was not helping at all. They should have been back to the temple by now and the sun was hovering dangerously near the horizon. He finally decided to gather up his courage and speak up. He was the Avatar after all. A tiny voice in his mind reminded him that he does not have the Avatar state to help him this time if Katara gets mad at him but he chose to ignore it.

"Err.. Katara?" He spoke up tentatively.

"What?" she snapped at him, clicking her tongue as she turned the map upside down, letting out a frustrated sigh. Aang took a deep breath, gathering his wits and finally spoke up.

"Are we lost?" Katara whirled around to look at him but instead of anger, Aang was horrified to find tears glistering in her eyes. She took the map and ripped it apart in front of Aang, taking deep shuddering breaths to stop the tears from spilling out. She flung the pieces in the air and marched over to sit in one of the benches by the well, leaving Aang rooted to the spot. He was unsure what to do, he had never actually seen Katara with tears in her eyes; it was a completely new experience to him but one look at her dejected face and he could feel his heart getting ripped apart. He walked up to the bench and sat down beside her.

"You know Katara… it's not always a bad thing not to know something."

Katara had her face away from him, her eyes seeming to look over at the fish merchant in front of her across the road. Aang was not sure whether she heard him or not but he couldn’t bear to not have her look at him when he spoke.

"I didn't know anything about anything until I met you and Sokka. Sokka taught me the value of thinking things through. I learnt the value of hard work from Toph. And Zuko taught me the value of perseverance." Aang stopped, looking up at Katara.

She seemed to have calmed down a bit for now her eyes were downcast, looking at her feet but Aang could still see tear drops glistering on her eyelashes. He reached up and put his hand on her shoulder.

"But you know what Katara..?" he continued. "Everything would have been useless if it was not for you. You taught me to keep my hopes alive. You taught me the value of always seeing the bright side even during the darkest hours."

Katara glanced over at him, her face a mixture of emotions.

Aang smiled at her. " If it was not for you, if it was not for hope, even planning and thinking ahead or hard work… everything loses all its meaning. Nothing exists without hope." Katara was looking at Aang as if she was seeing him for the first time. Her tears have dried up and she was actually smiling at him.

Aang gently squeezed her shoulder "You can do it Katara. Don't think of it as a challenge, think of it as something you need to learn… not to prove a point to someone else but to prove to yourself that you can learn something you know you are not good at. Don't lose hope"

Katara chuckled softly and Aang could feel his heart soar, a big grin appearing over his face.

"I guess I am bad at reading maps. I should get Sokka to teach me how to read one.”

"That's the spirit Katara." Aang replied happily, jumping on his feet and giving his hand to Katara to help her get up. Katara smiled up to him and stood up, wiping away her tears. Before Aang could figure out what was happening, suddenly Katara had flung her arms around him, holding him tightly in her arms. Aang held her back, his heart thumping with joy, glad to have her in his arms but happier still to have been able to stop her tears.

She stepped back from him, her eyes shining with her radiant smile as she looked over to where the now ripped off pieces of the map were hopelessly fluttering about in the evening wind.

"I guess the map is not going to be of any use anymore." She sighed.

"It would have been of no use even if it was not ripped to pieces." The horror of what he had spoken had just sunk into him and he cringed inwardly, kicking himself for opening his mouth. He closed his eyes and braced himself to face Katara's anger when suddenly he could hear Katara laughing out loud.

Cautiously he opened his eyes and was astonished to find Katara laughing away freely, her pretty brown hair fluttering in the evening breeze.

"I am that bad at reading maps, am I not?" she choked through her laughter and as Aang found himself laughing along with her, he could not help but thank Sokka for his stupid idea of getting both Katara and him lost for hours. Stupid or brilliant, whichever way you look at it, Aang though as they both made their way back to the street, trying to figure out a way to get back to the temple. This was going to be a long evening but strangely neither Aang nor Katara seemed to mind one bit.

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